Danger Scale

The U.S. and Canada use a five-category estimation of the avalanche danger: Low, Moderate, Considerable, High and Extreme.

The North American Avalanche Danger Scale is a tool used by avalanche forecasters to communicate the potential for avalanches to cause harm or injury to backcountry travelers. The video below provides an overview of the scale, as well as a quick illustration of how it applies to your daily backcountry risk assessment. Many thanks to Nomadic Creative, Grant Gunderson Photography, and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center for their help creating the video.